Airlifted
By: Barbara Wade

Blue body with white star,

A helicopter hovers overhead,

Mixer blades churning the air

Above the softball field,

Then wends its way over

Pink sandstone turrets,

Descends between ancient campus

Maples and oaks.

In a trance I follow

To the narrow lawn.

This time, someone else's brother

Is carried on a stretcher,

Airlifted from an accident.





Plants Praise
By: Barbara Wade

Smooth throats of calla lilies sing hosannas

A procession of irises line the drive

Mounds of peonies waft incense through the air

Motley-colored pansy faces jauntily grin

Colorado mountain columbines,

Lavender, coral, and lemon,

Dance on the Kansas plains.



Wherever we lived-

Thin, sandy soils of Florida and Spain,

Windy Texas panhandle,

Deep loam of Kansas-,

Fertile or stubborn, the ground

Yielded its bounty

To my mother's loving hands.



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